The Halloween movie reviews were supposed to go down by the decades as much as possible, but there is an anomaly. I forgot a recent film I think is one of the best horror movies in recent memory, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter! It is based on the 2010 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith who wrote the screenplay. I read the book and know about the follow up novel, The Last American Vampire (2015) which is set to developed as a television show for NBC. The movie is directed by Timur Bekmambetov who directed Night Watch (2004), Wanted (2008), and produced Searching. I’m fascinated by Bekmambetov’s films, they have an energy and visual style that makes every movie interesting. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was released in the same year as Steven Spielberg’s more historically accurate Lincoln and I will say as much as I’ve read and learned about Lincoln, the former is more informative. Yes, he wasn’t a vampire hunter, but I got an understanding of Mary Todd Lincoln more than the latter, his children, his background, and his friend, Joshua Speed, so yes, Daniel Day-Lewis is a better actor, but I didn’t learn anything new from that film. Side note: this film has some of the best use of 3D in any movie, so much so that I drove quite a distance to see it again in 3D.
The movie begins with narration by Abraham Lincoln played by Benjamin Walker who was earlier in Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and later appeared in the film, In The Heart of the Sea (2015). He speaks of legends and says that “History remembers the battle and forgets the blood.” We see the Washington Monument at sunset, beautiful shot, and then as he continues his narration there is a quick dissolve to it’s construction, first shot that was stunning in 3D. We move to the White House and the date, April 14, 1865. Abraham Lincoln is writing in a diary of his secret history and then takes the fateful carriage ride as we see a mysterious man waves to him with the diary. He is played by Dominic Cooper who was Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Agent Carter (2015-2016) and is currently the lead in the Preacher television program. Lincoln starts off his diary with his boyhood in Pigeon Creek, Indiana, 1818. Young Abraham is working on a dock, when he sees the parents of his friend, Will, taken away. His father, Thomas (Joseph Mawie), tells him to ignore them. Will is whipped by a brutal worker, Abraham picks up his axe, and rushes Barts, but it is caught and he is thrown down. The whip comes down, a terrifying 3D effect, and lashes Will’s cheek.
Thomas Lincoln punches the worker into the water and he is tapped by Jack Barts. Martin Csokas plays Barts, he played Celeborn in the Lord of the Rings films, Aeon Flux (2005), and lately played Quinn in the television series, Into the Badlands (2015-2017). Nancy Lincoln checks on her son, she says to Barts, “Till every man is free, we are all slaves.” This is of course a fictional incident, but I absolutely love that Abraham takes his strength and bravery from his father and will and intelligence from his mother. Barts fires Thomas and asks for all of his debt to be paid. Thomas snaps away his walking stick and Barts has a small pistol pointed at him. We can see Nancy Lincoln reflected in Bart’s dark glasses, nice shot. Night, Abraham is in the loft in the family cabin writing in his diary, he hears a creaking. Spying, he sees the door open, Barts enters and takes hold of Nancy’s arm. Barts looks up and has all black eyes.
Then, we hear Nancy screaming, the doctor is confused at her strange illness. Abraham reads his diary to his mother and then she stares off having passed away. At her grave marker, Thomas has Abraham promise him not to “do anything foolish.” Abraham’s narration picks up nine years after his father’s death, the older Abraham is now played by Walker, and he takes a drink. Next to him is the man we saw at the White House years later, he slaps his back, which makes Abraham drop his pistol. At the dock, Barts talks to a man named Adam (Rufus Sewell), Abraham watches on a boat underneath the dock. Sewell is currently Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith in The Man in the High Castle, Gods of Egypt (2016), and earlier he was A Knight’s Tale (2001). Barts pleads for help from Vadoma (Erin Wasson). Adam wants Barts to find Henry and wants a “fresh crop” sent south. Barts sees them rowing on a boat in the misty night. Abraham climbs up to the dock and takes out his pistol, he says, “For my mother”, and fires. The pistol fizzles. Abraham runs and locks himself in a shack.
He tries to reload his pistol, Barts pushes on the door, and knocks the ball that goes rolling next to a dead, naked woman. He tries to move the ball with his boot. Barts bursts through the door and finds Abraham with the pistol and shoots with spectacular 3D effect. Abraham sees the shot in Bart’s right eye. He then tosses the pistol into the water and turns to see Barts’ body is missing. Suddenly, Barts roars at him with fangs! Barts slams Abraham senseless through the dock. The man from the bar appears behind Barts. He takes him and throws him ripping through the roof of the shack. Day, Abraham wakes up in bed, his right eye closed with a bruise, and his wounds are bandaged. He finds his diary and then walks the house hearing a woman screaming. Abraham takes up a brass candlestick and bursts in the door to find a woman, Gabrielle, in a bath with a man. She exits in a towel and the man introduces himself as Henry Sturgess.
He says Abraham is a boy and that his target is a vampire. Henry explains that vampires are in “every city and every state in the Union.” He has Abraham vow to be a hunter without friends or family. Henry shows Abraham a wall of guns, but he says he hasn’t had luck with them, and looks at the axe since he was a rail-splitter. Henry takes Abraham to the forest and wants him to cut down a tree with a single blow with the axe. He asks Abraham what he hates. Abraham says Jack Barts, but of course his strike does not knock down the tree, so Henry presses him until Abraham shatters the tree, gonna say it again, awesome in 3D! Henry tells him that “power doesn’t come from hate, but from truth.” Next he takes Abraham into a room, he says his enemy can become invisible, so closes the door to complete darkness and beats up Abraham! In the light, Henry is covered in blood, Abraham with a bloody face, closes the door and says, “Again.” Love it!
Abraham begins spinning the axe with martial arts speed, I’ve seen Walker train with the axe in behind the scenes video. Henry explains that 30 pieces of silver given to Judas is a curse against vampires and coats his axe blade with silver. At a bar, Henry explains about vampires, Abraham checks a mirror, and then turns to see Barts. He then shows pictures of Barts, Vadoma, and Adam. Henry explains that vampires have been feeding on native tribes and settlers. He says that the vampires have an empire in the South feeding on slaves. The scene shifts to Springfield, 1837, Abraham rides in after finishing his training. A shopkeeper throws out a man in front of him. Abraham walks into his store and the shopkeeper introduces himself as Joshua Speed. He is played by Jimmi Simpson who is currently William in Westworld, he was Walton in the “USS Callister” (2017) episode of Black Mirror, and earlier was Ronnie Kwok in Knights of Badassdom (2013). Abraham asks if he has a room, but has spent all of his money on law books. Joshua has kicked out his assistant and offers Abraham the room for work.
Abraham writes to Henry about his work life and while stocking the shelves, a woman comes in. She is looking for some goods and is offended at Abraham calling her “ma’am.” He drops down and she looks at him. She introduces herself as Mary Todd. She is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was earlier in Wolf Lake (2001-2002), then Scott Pilgrim vs. the World as Ramona Flowers!, and also in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). Then, comes in a gentleman who was looking for Mary Todd, and introduces himself to Lincoln as Stephen Douglas. The actor who plays Douglas is Alan Tudyk, Wash from Firefly. He wants votes to help keep slavery out of Illinois. Joshua interrupts them handing Abraham a letter. Henry has his first mission at a pharmacy with Aaron Stibel, Jr. Night, Joshua thanks Abraham for a day of good work. Abraham locks up and then runs to get ready for the hunt. Henry’s letter adds “Always have a contingency plan.”
Abraham heads to the pharmacy that advertises liniment for sun burn. Abraham asks the pharmacist if he is Aaron Stibel, Jr., he responds with a roar revealing his fangs!, he pulls a lever for a trap door. Abraham falls upside down hanging with his legs bound! He hangs next to victims bleeding into pans. Aaron Stibel Jr. places a bowl underneath Abraham. Abraham drops his silver knife to be caught in his mouth and slashes the vampire, then the rope. He drops down and picks up his axe to finish off the vampire pharmacist. Abraham buries the body under a fallen tree in the mist. The next day, Joshua tells Abraham about their invitation to a ball. Joshua introduces Stephen to Senator Nolan to distract him from Mary Todd. She invites Abraham to dance. The next letter from Henry arrives sending Abraham to a bank. Abraham sneaks up behind the banker with his axe, but the vampire disappears. He throws a handful of sand from his pocket, clever. The sand clings to the banker, Abraham throws his axe, and shoves the vampire into a shelf severing his head!
He hunts other vampires. Abraham stumbles forward scattering the china for his picnic with Mary Todd by a river, very beautiful shot, the cinematography is by Caleb Deschanel. He tells Mary Todd that he has been working nights hunting vampires. She takes it lightly and laughs. At night, he sees her home, she takes his hat to stand on it and kisses him. He remembers Henry’s hunter vow and Abraham worries about bringing Mary Todd into his world. Jack Barts watches Mary Todd enter her house. Riding up to an empty mansion, Vendela hands her brother Adam, the newspaper and Adam asks if the hunter is one of Henry’s disciples. At night, a man enters the store and asks Abraham what he knows about runaway slave laws. He turns and Abraham sees the scar, he is happy to see his childhood friend, Will Johnson. Anthony Mackie plays Will of course known for playing Falcon recently in Avengers: Infinity War, he was earlier in Real Steel (2011), and also The Hurt Locker (2008). Will has a bounty hunters after him when he was freeing slaves for the Underground Railroad. This film works as a horror movie, historical drama (debatable truth), twists to history, and an action movie.
Five Silver Axes out of Five!
#AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter, #TimurBekmambetov, #BenjaminWalker, #MaryElizabethWinstead
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